The nanoimprint technique is a method in which a mold with a surface having a concave-convex pattern of a nanometer size formed thereon in advance is pressed against a processing-target material or a resin coating formed on the surface thereof to precisely transfer a minute pattern all at once instead of a minute pattern formed through plural steps in a photolithography technique. The mold pattern plays a role of a so-called die and can be repeatedly used. Thus, high throughput is obtained and the cost is very low.
In transferring a minute pattern to a resin, the resin needs to be cured. The system of the nanoimprint is largely classified depending on the curing method. For example, there is known a thermal nanoimprint method of transferring a concave-convex pattern with use of a thermoplastic resin by heat and an optical nanoimprint method of transferring a concave-convex pattern with use of a photo-curable resin by light.
In particular, in the optical nanoimprint in which a resin is cured by UV light, quartz glass is generally used as a mold material. The quartz glass has been generally used in the semiconductor field. This is because of the following reason. Specifically, the quartz glass is excellent in low thermal expansion, purity, heat resistance, and chemical resistance, and therefore it easily allows achievement of high pattern accuracy. In addition, it is free from deterioration over time. Thus, it is the most suitable for the purpose of IC for which a minute pattern is necessary.
Although having excellent properties as a mold material, the quartz glass has the following problem. Specifically, the mold release performance between the quartz glass mold and a resin as the pattern-transfer-target material is low in imprint. Therefore, the resin tightly adheres to the mold when the mold is separated from the resin in which the transfer pattern is formed. Thus, an imperfection arises in the concave-convex pattern of the resin, so that a pattern defect and separation of a mold release agent are caused.
Therefore, several fluorine-based mold release agents have been attempted as a method for enhancing the mold release performance (see PCT Patent Publication No. WO 2009/148138, and JP-A 2010-214859, and JP-A 2007-073712).